Thursday March 21st, 2024.
For the fourth walk in a row, we began from the Miaoli HSR station and took another long cab journey, this time to Guikeshengtai Park, just slightly south of the DaJia Coastal Park, where we had started walking north on day 22. In contrast to the previous couple of walks, the weather was on its best behaviour today, with no wind and sunny skies overhead and the temperature around 23c – perfect for walking. After waving goodbye to our friendly taxi driver, we headed south and within minutes came across our first NFT of the day, a giant tortoise, which looked like it belonged in the Galapagos Islands. The ocean was on our right today and with cactus bushes next to the path and coastal wetlands full of egrets, herons and plovers, there were plenty of things to catch the eye. The ubiquitous wind turbines towered over us as usual but we also passed a solar wind farm, all part of Taiwan’s drive to become less reliant on oil and gas for energy.
We passed numerous duck farms and began a long succession of bad gags and puns on this subject: “Waiter, bring me a duck and put it on my bill.” Cringe worthy of course but it kept us amused for a while. Next up , we saw a bunch of workers erecting bamboo fences on the beach, seemingly to protect crops, although we were too far away to be sure what had been planted. Tim told us he’d spent the HSR journey writing lyrics in Chinese for his latest rap song and he’s subsequently managed to record it in the studio with his long-suffering wife, Fang Ding. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVYRPwXL3X0).
For the first few kilometers, there was no way on to the beach through the wetlands but we finally came to a spot with access and made our way over the dunes to take a few photos. Sadly, there was a deep inlet almost immediately ahead so we were forced back on to the path to continue our progress; no great hardship really with the wonderful views and weather we were enjoying. An hour and a half into the trip, we came across a shelter with some shade and decided it was time to take on board some snacks and liquid, while Tim recited his rap lyrics for our enjoyment.
Moving on, we passed a recycling plant opposite some watermelon fields just before some old, abandoned houses, another sign of how few people live in this area. Straight ahead we could see a long road bridge but we had to cut inland and follow the No. 1 Cycling Route signs through a small village to gain access. Pedestrians were clearly an afterthought on the bridge but fortunately, on our two kilometer trek across, most of the heavy traffic was in the separate central lanes, so we were only disturbed by the occasional scooter or car. Our elevated position afforded great views over the almost deserted fields to the central mountain range in the distance and before long we were back at ground level and heading through a tiny settlement towards the coast again. We met an old lady drying seeds in the sun, who seemed startled by the arrival of four Westerners in this tiny backwater but she happily gave us directions once Elaine spoke to her in Mandarin and Taiwanese.
We now meandered pleasantly along narrow footpaths, past a small temple, a large flock of egrets and across mudbanks separating rice paddies. Amongst the wind turbines on the coast, we could see a large structure with blue crenellations, which seemed totally out of place in such a deserted area. This was still some way ahead though so we first stopped at a tiny store to buy cold energy drinks. The village of GaoMei may have been tiny but they had certainly employed a great mural artist, whose work got two thumbs up from all of us, especially Rich. We’d been following the signs for the Deer GaoMei Café for some time so we’re slightly disappointed to find it closed but we nevertheless decided to take our second snack break of the day in the shade of the café’s outdoor deck.
Refreshed again, we set off and soon rounded a corner to find the mysterious building was a large kindergarten; not what we were expecting. We were now back on the coast and having barely seen a soul for hours, we suddenly saw dozens of tourists who had come to admire the walkway leading out into the sea. A sign proclaimed this to be the site of Taiwan’s most beautiful sunset and in top place on the 2019 list of “100 Wedding Photo Shooting Spots in Taichung”. We were a few hours too early for the sunset and had no need for wedding photos so we pushed on. Another sign listed the many local attractions and we soon passed the first of them, the Zi Yun Yan Temple to our left.
We were somewhat bemused to see that the DaYang Oil Depot was also on the list of tourist spots but when it hove into sight shortly afterwards, we decided to pass up the chance to visit it and instead turned slightly inland. We were now very close to the Port of Taichung so our route led for some distance down long roads full of trucks and container warehouses all around, including one with huge quantities of recycled cardboard, which must be exported somewhere. A grubby sign advertising the wonderfully named “Affair Motel” made us laugh and we were also intrigued to see a large, golden statue on top of a crane factory. Yet another NFT.
We now entered an area with dozens of new apartment buildings, many of which were still in the process of construction, which seemed odd given the huge oversupply of apartments in Taichung and Taiwan’s stagnant population growth. Who will buy and live in all of these apartments we pondered? A large Family Mart with a spacious upstairs seating area presented the chance for our third and final break for snacks and cold refreshments, while we considered our options for the evening meal. Given that we’d been tramping along wide busy roads for some time, we decided on a restaurant that was only thirty minutes’ walk away and headed off, with low expectations, for the remainder of the journey. To our delight though our course led through an area that was simply temple heaven. Due no doubt to the proximity of the port and all the seafarers, we came upon numerous temples of all shapes and sizes and even a beautiful redbrick lined alley complete with lanterns and tiny cat statues. As we went past an open house doorway, we saw three elderly residents sipping on cold beers so we waved cheerily and one of the old ladies called out in English “I love you”. Adulation, even in the most unexpected of places, is always appreciated.
With so much to see on the way, it had taken longer than thirty minutes to arrive at our planned eatery and as we approached, we noticed a succession of coaches arriving to disgorge hungry tourists. Within a few minutes, eight had arrived, which meant at least 400 people waiting to be served ahead of us. A quick change of plan was needed and a google search revealed another nice seafood establishment close by, so we made our way there instead. This place was considerably quieter and in no time the table was groaning with cold beverages and delicious dishes as we kicked back and reflected on another fun packed day. All that remained was to get a taxi back to the Taichung HSR station and the journey passed quickly as the affable, female driver put on videos by the Taiwanese rock band, Wu Bai (伍佰) for us to enjoy.
Total Distance Walked Today 22.6km
Distance Walked in Total 445km
End of Day 23. Richie Rich.
If you’ve made it all the way down here on today’s blog, many thanks. We’ve been asked by a few people how far we’ve got on our quest to walk around Taiwan so if you look below the map showing today’s walk, you will see a second map showing our progress. We’re roughly a quarter of the way around and have walked 444.6km so far. Still a long way to go but we are thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
